Buying after the Yglesias tweet.

Taking long-termism seriously:

A highly underrated problem! "A reasonable estimate of the direct costs in terms of harm and crime prevention is in the region of 7-11% of US GDP. Once broader costs such as urban sprawl and foregone investment are factored in, the cost of crime is likely to be significantly higher. "

Unfortunately, tractability looks pretty weak. Being able to identify reforms which would reduce crime and being able to translate those reforms into policy changes are two very different things!